How many ways are there of saying “delightful”? From how many angles can one evaluate a performance?: variety of music; technical excellence; phrasing; tuning; communication with the audience…

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The concert of 12th November by Trio Celadon: Daniel Ephgrave, flute, Naomi Sullivan, saxophone, and Jill Morton, piano, was a feast of delights.  We heard the tale of Fuzzette the tarantula, who lost her coat but still got her man, her adventure being highlighted in short instrumental episodes between the narration. This reviewer was moved by a trio by Madelaine Dring, which he himself has played with his children on flute and oboe, the latter, in this concert, being reassigned…

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Piano recital by Alan Dorn. 9th April 2025. Alan shared with us a feast of the Romantic repertoire, focussing on four composers born between 1809 and 1811. Of these Mendelssohn only lived to 38, Chopin to 39, and Schumann to 46, and we tend to forget that these were all composing in the age of the wood-framed piano, with its light sound which quickly died away. But Liszt lived till 1886 and the age of 75 by which time the…

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The December recital by Bridget Kerrison (soprano), Tom Caldecote (clarinet) and Trevor Hughes (piano) was a feast of lovely music, avowedly made up of the performers’ favourite items, which came across in their warm interactions with each other and with the audience. The substantial first item: the Clarinet Sonata by Saint-Saëns, explored all aspects of the interplay between the instruments, exploiting the full capability of the clarinet from the lowest to the highest pitches, from whisper quiet to dramatic…

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The Letchworth Music Club’s new season got off to a wonderful start on October the 12th with a concert by ‘Quartet Camerata’. They began the first half of their programme with Haydn’s Quartet in D major (Op. 76 No 5), whose skittish playfulness set a lovely note for the whole evening. They followed this with Beethoven’s Quartet in C minor, (Op. 18 No 4). This work was written in Vienna at the very end of the 18th century and was published…

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LETCHWORTH MUSIC CONCERT REVIEW: 2021-22 SEASON: 13th April 2022 Live Music in Congenial Surroundings: Experience the Magic: You’re All Most Welcome! A sparkling end to our Concert Season was provided by Duality – Emma Abbate & Julian Perkins ‘four hands on one piano’, ‘Across the Pond’, European duets eliding into an American post-interval ‘program’. Emma enjoys varied roles including accompanist and chamber music, keenly advocates contemporary music and is a Professor at Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Julian Perkins, a Cambridge…

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Supported by the Countess of Munster Musical Trust, the 9th March 2022 Letchworth Music Concert at Howgills was exceptional on all levels. With 24 hours’ notice the pianist, Kaoru Wada, Ionel Manciu’s pianist wife had to withdraw for family reasons. On the morning of the concert the pianist, Gamal Khamis, stepped in to save the day. (He had accompanied the oboist, Amy Roberts, in November). Beethoven’s Third Sonata for Violin and Piano was substituted for the Fifth (‘Spring): fortunately the…

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